Double chocolate cake (0 colours)

I've made quite a few different chocolate cakes in the past, but this is by far the tastiest and has a lovely consistency too. I kept it in the fridge because the chocolate topping would melt in our warm kitchen, but the cake tastes equally good warm or cold.

Ingredients
Golden caster sugar - 175 g
Butter - 175 g
Eggs - 3
Self-raising flour -140 g
Baking powder - 0.5 tsp
Ground almonds - 85 g
Milk - 100 ml
Cocoa powder - 4 tbsp
Chocolate chips - 50 g
6-8 pieces (total) of white and milk/dark chocolate for decorating

Methods
1) Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Cream the sugar and butter together in a large bowl.
2) Whisk in the eggs, flour, baking powder, ground almonds, milk and cocoa powder until smooth.
3) Stir in the choclate chips then pour into the loaf tin and cook at 160°C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin.

4) When the surface of the cake has cooled melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Drizzle over the cake with a spoon. Repeat with the milk or dark chocolate and then cool the cake in the fridge. Serves 8-10.

Blueberry and lime drizzle cake (2 colours)

Ingredients
Butter - 225 g, softened
Golden caster sugar - 225 g
Eggs - 4
Limes - 2, juice & grated zest
Self raising flour - 250 g
Ground almonds - 25 g
Blueberries - 200 g

For the syrup:
Lime juice - 8 tbsp
Lime - 1, grated zest
Golden caster sugar - 140 g

Methods
1) Line an 8 inch square cake tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2) Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour towards the end to prevent curdling. Beat in the zest of two limes, then fold in the flour and ground almonds. Stir in the juice of the two limes.
3) Add three quarters of the blueberries to the bowl, stir gently and turn into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface, then scatter the remaining fruit on top - it will sink as the cake rises (I must remember to do this with my blueberry cake because the fruit usually sinks to the bottom).
4) Bake for about 1 hour (cover with foil if beginning to brown too much), or until a skewer comes out clean.
5) Meanwhile make the syrup - add the lime juice, zest and sugar to a small saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer then pour over the syrup. Leave to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin. Cut into squares when cool. Serves 16.

Blueberry, lemon and coconut traybake (2 colours)

Ingredients
Butter - 300 g
Caster sugar  - 400 g
Lemon - grated zest of 1
Eggs - 6
Self-raising flour - 250 g
Blueberries - 300 g
Lemon curd - 200 g
Dessicated coconut - 200 g

Methods
1) Beat together 250g of the butter with 250g of the sugar and the lemon zest.
2) In a separate bowl beat four of the eggs, then gradually beat into the butter and sugar mixture, adding a spoonful of flour if it begins to curdle. Fold in the flour and a third of the blueberries, then spoon into a 20 x 30 cm cake tin lined with greaseproof paper. My cake overflowed a little during the last five minutes so if your tin is shallow like mine make sure that the greaseproof paper reaches a little higher than the sides of the tin.
3) Flatten the surface with a spatula, sprinkle over another third of the blueberries, and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C until the surface is set.
4) Melt the rest of the butter in a small pan. Stir in the coconut and remaining sugar and eggs. Warm the lemon curd gently for a few mins in a small pan until it is runny and pourable (this was so easy I'll be doing it for my lemon drizzle cake in future).
5) Remove the cake from the oven. Scatter over the remaining blueberries and then drizzle over the lemon curd. Top with the coconut mixture and bake for a further 20-25 mins until the coconut is golden. Leave to cool and then cut into squares. Makes about 15 squares.